A Grade 1 girl in Melbourne loves everything about her school except her uniforms. She complained about her heavy school tunic and thick stockings all the time, as she could not participate in outdoor games comfortably. The angry Melbourne mum asked the school to allow her daughter to wear pants and when refused, launched an online petition calling for gender equality. Reportedly, the six-year-old has now won the right to wear trousers in school.

Asha Cariss, the Grade 1 student and her mother, Simone Cariss has won their battle against gender discrimination. The school which initially refused her request to let her daughter wear trousers in school had to comply with it under public pressure. Simone wrote a change.org petition and posted it on Friday. The petition was signed by 3000 people.

Meanwhile, the happy and satisfied Melbourne mum told Kidspot, “The principal called me today and said she hadn’t responded very well in the first place and that they would form a committee to discuss the changes and then roll them out.”

Simone also said that she did not inform Asha immediately, as her daughter was at school that time.

Previously, the Catholic school’s refusal of her request affected her daughter in a practical level, the angry Melbourne mum stated. The uniform prevented Asha from participating in sports as active as she would like to be.

Simone said that Asha used to ask her, “’Why can’t I wear pants like the boys?”

She noted, “I’m not going to say to her, ‘because you’re a girl’.”

Simone continued, “It’s definitely not a reflection on the quality of education she’s receiving at the school. My daughter loves the school and she’s got a lot of friends there.”

“My daughter, like many other girls, simply wants the choice to wear pants like half her peers, with the warmth and freedom to be active at school and travelling,” she added.

The Victorian Education Minister, James Merlino, called the Catholic Education to intervene in this matter earlier. He observed that in 2016 students should have the liberty to choose their uniform.

Catholic Education Melbourne executive director Stephen Elder said that all the decisions related to uniform are taken by schools, stated The Guardian.

He stated, “This autonomy is one of the core components to making Catholic education great, providing our schools with the freedom and flexibility to act in the best interests of their students and families.”

Because of the angry Melbourne mum, Simone’s effort the school uniform is now uniform for all students in true sense of the term and for the first time used as a social equaliser.